Second Session

After making it safely to the Keep, Uncle Jesse is infuriatingly nonverbal. The group decides to lock him up until they can figure out what's going on. Linen takes her family further into the Keep to safety, and the group sans Uncle Jesse goes to meet with Governor Nighthill - the man in charge - to see what assistance can be offered. They find the man in a tower in the northern end of the Keep. Nighthill is a well dressed older gentleman who has been recently injured, his arm being in a sling. The group can see the staging area for the raiders out the southern window, and after speaking with the governor, learn that the raiders seem to be more interested in plundering and burning the town, and less interested in attacking the Keep. The Governor (i.e., the DM) tells the group that perhaps the drow (aka Uncle Jesse) would be of some help, mostly so Brian wouldn't be stuck in a dungeon the whole evening. The group meets up with Escobeart the Red, a dwarf in charge of defending the Keep against both the raiders and the blue dragon that is attacking the town.

Escobeart tells the group of a secret passage way under the Keep that had been used in the past during times of danger. The passageway is locked, and he asks the group to attempt to unlock the passageway to create a safer way in and out of the Keep. He also agrees that if the drow has been helpful in the past, that perhaps we should give him the chance to help...The group releases the drown under the conditions that he helps the group unlock the passage way and prove that his intentions are truly honorable.

The group makes their way to the passageway, and after some difficulty with the lock, find themselves in a long passage way with a shallow stream running down it. There are mounds of grass and cloth on the sides of the stream, which under further inspection, are discovered to be rats' nests. Caelynn, in a moment of sheer stupidity, touches one of the nests - instead of simply rolling a perception check - infuriating a horde of rats who attack the group with a fervor never seen before. Tonans is knocked unconscious from rat bites, and is saved by Anna, who uses the torch to set rats on fire. The rest of the rats flee from the group, and Anna and Uncle Jesse work together to stabilize and revive Tonans. The group, shaken, move through the tunnel, finding the exit to the outside. After hiding from a patrol, the group retreats back into the Keep to report their success in both locating and unlocking the hidden passageway.

After reporting their success to the Governor and Escobeart, the group is given healing potions to perk them up for their next task. A group of villagers is holed up in the Temple, in the southeastern part of the city. They are trapped, and there is no one available to free them. The group agrees to go to the aid of the villagers, and use the newly opened passageway to leave the Keep. Torment requests and is granted a mirror to aid in looking around corners, and Uncle Jesse is given a new aka - Kimmy Gibbler. As the group makes their way through the passageway, Caelynn becomes trips over one of the rats' nests, inhaling rat feces in the process, while the rest of the group capably walks around the nests. Tonans mentions a girlfriend back at home, and Caelynn makes a mental note to ask more questions later...

The group is able to sneak from the passageway to where the Temple is located. There they discover three groups of raiders. One group, comprised of 6 kobolds, 2 raiders, and 1 dragon looking creature wearing a scimitar is at the front of the Temple operating a battering ram. A second group, comprised of 3 raiders, 10 kobolds, and 2 ambush drakes leashed to 2 of the raiders, seems to be patrolling around the Temple, passing by every 8-10 minutes. A third group, comprised of 2 raiders and 6 kobolds, are in the back of the Temple, guarding the back door and manning a large fire that is being used to light torches that are being thrown into the temple by the patrol.

The group decides to wait until the patrol has moved just out of view, and attempt to take out the third group and get the people out of the Temple before the patrol returns. After a round of spectacularly failed roles during the surprise round of combat, the group is able to dispatch the group of raiders and kobolds. Tonans and Caelynn run inside the Temple to find approximately 3 dozen frightened people inside. While no one has a stop watch, the group estimates that about 90 seconds has elapsed, leaving approximately 6.5 minutes left to get the frightened villagers out of the Temple and to safety before being spotted by the large patrol...

Will the group survive the night? DM - Seems unlikely...Or will they be killed mercilessly by the raiders? DM - Probably dragon food...What are the raiders after? Where did the dragon come from? Where will it go? Will Uncle Jesse ever get a name NOT from the popular earth sitcom Full House? DM - Not for the foreseeable future...The answers to all these questions and more on the next "Whatever we're calling this..."